Katerina Topouzoglou: “My father founded Smirdex in 1981 and meanwhile we have become a leading company in the field of manufacturing premium quality abrasives for a wide range of applications. Ours is a well-structured family business, and, with the continuous efforts of our fully qualified staff, the company has been progressively led to growth, both in production and absolute alignment with top quality standards, through quality European raw materials, a certified production process and development of innovation via a specialised research.”

“We focus our commercial activity on the international market. Smirdex trades 85% of its sales in more than 76 countries worldwide, through its network of dealers and associates, while the remaining 15% is distributed to the internal Greek market. Last year was very good, with a 30% increase in turnover of 30 million euros. This is the result of working with a load of enthusasm and a verh high concern for quality, while keeping our prices normal in comparison to other brands.”

The ceramic evolution
Among other things, Klaas Van Dyck mainly distributes the Smirdex 750 series, a ceramic net abrasive ensuring a revolutionary almost 100% dustfree sanding. Instead of a paper backing, the net fabric structure permits maximum absorption of the sanded particles. Thus, a much healthier environment is created for the user and less effort is needed to clean up the workplace.

Smirdex only offers ceramic grained nets, leading to a high cutting performance.

Katerina Topouzoglou: “I was very impressed by pictures i saw from Klaas and his customers. I also saw how good it was brought to market in the stores and we decided to start a cooperation in the high-competitive Benelux market, where there are a lot of high end companies. We are not deterred by this, as we bring products to market that can compete.”

Klaas Van Dyck: “I found Smirdex when I was looking for alternative abrasive products. Most of what came my way was of very poor quality, in total contrast with Smirdex. Katerina and her team sent me samples, I tested these together with a number of parquet installers and was amazed by the quality. Next, I visited the company in Greece and discovered a well-organised, solid company with a very high focus on product quality. As a result, I started to import and sell the 750 ceramic net series a little over 1 year ago, and the product was very well received.”

“What I like especially about Smirdex is how very responsive this company is, it’s about more than ‘only’ quality. I have seldomly seen such a short lead time, together with real support and quick and good answers, combined with stable prices.”

Katarina Topouzoglou: “That is exactly what we want to achieve with Smirdex: offering very good quality, value for money and reasonable prices. This combination makes it easier to penetrate the market, especially with a high-tech product such as our net.”
“Our partnership with Klaas is the same as with all of our partners. We only look for the best partners and do everything we can to support them. This is a benefit of being a relatively small company, people that want a stable business relation with us always come first!”

Growing importance of wooden floors
When we talk further, the same thing always comes back: products such as the 740 and 750 net series are only being put to market when they have been perfected. After their launch, the company keeps looking for further improvement.

Katerina Topouzoglou: “The Benelux market is very interesting for us, as this is a region where wooden floors are important. In a way, we focus now on what my father wanted from the very start: axing on furniture and flooring and perfecting our sanding materials for these.”

“In conclusion, I would like to add that we also have a special way of dealing with raw materials, that we buy in Europe. We always took care of having a very big stock, with almost 6 months stock for production. In these troubled times, this is a big asset and we can assure that we will never be late with deliveries.”
Klaas Van Dyck: “For me, this is an enormous advantage as well. It shows how dedicated this company is and how the central line of thinking is to always be ahead of the needs of the customers. If you ask me, Smirdex is more than ready to conquer the world of abrasives for wood. We are now looking into participating in a number of fairs, to further penetrate the wooden flooring market.”